January 23, 2006
Folk legends of the changeling serve as a touchstone for Donohue's haunting debut, set vaguely in the American northeast, about the maturation of a young man troubled by questions of identity. At age seven, Henry Day is kidnapped by hobgoblins and replaced by a look-alike impostor. In alternating chapters, each Henry relates the tale of how he adjusts to his new situation. Human Henry learns to run with his hobgoblin pack, who never age but rarely seem more fey than a gang of runaway teens. Hobgoblin Henry develops his uncanny talent for mimicry into a music career and settles into an otherwise unremarkable human life. Neither Henry feels entirely comfortable with his existence, and the pathos of their losses influences all of their relationships and experiences. Inevitably, their struggles to retrieve their increasingly forgotten pasts put them on paths that intersect decades later. Donohue keeps the fantasy as understated as the emotions of his characters, while they work through their respective growing pains. The result is an impressive novel of outsiders whose feelings of alienation are more natural than supernatural.
Starred review from August 7, 2006
In interlocking chapters of scintillating prose, Donohue tells the tale of Henry Day and the two people he becomes after being snatched at age seven by changelings. One of them takes his human life, convincing almost everyone that he is the real Henry; meanwhile, the boy becomes one of the changelings, dubbed Aniday and initiated into their magical twilight world. Paris's and Woodman's impressive readings make Donohue's beguiling tale even more vivid: Paris uses a remarkable range of accents and pitches for changelings of various European backgrounds, as well as giving us the smart, soulful Aniday, who can't quite accept his new life. Meanwhile, Woodman illustrates the changing sound of American conversation from the '50s to the '70s, and his nuanced tones make one sympathize intensely with the second Henry Day, who is ever fearful of discovery and unable to relax into his own new life. Both readers manage to sound like a full cast without any sound effects, brilliantly illuminating the fantastic, detailed world Donohue has created so that the story will linger in listeners' minds for a long time afterward. Simultaneous release with the Nan Talese hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 23).